Category: Current Affairs

Healthcare Providers Needed for Survey on Medicaid Expansion

May 15, 2023

Healthcare Providers Needed for Survey on Medicaid Expansion

The Institute of Public Policy at the University of Missouri is recruiting Missouri healthcare providers for a study on Medicaid Expansion.

Participants will complete a short online survey. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and asks questions about your role as a healthcare provider, your experiences treating Medicaid patients, and your thoughts on Medicaid Expansion.

Why should you participate?

Your responses will help policymakers better understand what healthcare providers need to adapt to Medicaid Expansion. As a token of appreciation, you will receive a $20.00 e-gift card for participation. All responses are confidential.

Who should participate?

Healthcare providers who either currently treat Missouri Medicaid patients or who are willing to treat Missouri Medicaid patients in the future.

Questions:

Contact the Missouri Medicaid Workforce Research Team at medicaidresearchproject@missouri.edu

Click here to complete the survey

Webinar – Moneyball for Medicine: How Seattle Children’s used self-serve HER data to empower clinicians, drive efficiency, and dramatically increase revenue

May 10, 2023

Webinar – Moneyball for Medicine: How Seattle Children’s used self-serve EHR data to empower clinicians, drive efficiency, and dramatically increase revenue

As healthcare emerges from COVID-19 disruptions, proactive organizations are using lessons learned to improve efficiency, increase capacity, enhance clinical effectiveness and reduce disparities in outcomes. Seattle Children’s Hospital acted on a key area that is too often untapped: the treasure trove of data captured in the Electronic Health Record (EHR).

Join Becker’s Hospital Review webinar to learn how Seattle Children’s increased the value of its data and made it available to all clinicians via a self-service clinical management tool – enabling clinical leaders to quickly and easily monitor, evaluate and adapt care across patients, treatments, teams and workflows.

You will also learn more about the hospital’s successes, including:

  • Improve GI lab efficiency increasing annual revenue of over $2M
  • Increase OR capacity 150,000 minutes per year without changing staffing
  • Reduce anesthesia-related carbon emissions by 90%
  • Diagnose and eliminate racial and language inequities in care

Date: May 31, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT

Register Now

DHSS Launches Webpage and Map Displaying Missouri Facilities by Perinatal Levels of Care

May 1, 2023

DHSS Launches Webpage and Map Displaying Missouri Facilities by Perinatal Levels of Care

Maternal Level of Care Map

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – In 2018, Senate Bill 50 was passed by the Missouri General Assembly, which allowed the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to establish criteria for levels of maternal care and neonatal care designations for birthing facilities. As dozens of Missouri hospitals and providers have since completed the developed designation process, DHSS is launching the webpage, Health.mo.gov/PerinatalCare, which outlines the criteria developed for both maternal and neonatal levels of care and provides a map of these facilities by their designation level.

Annually, an average of 61 Missouri women die while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy, giving Missouri the seventh highest rate of maternal mortality in the United States. Risk-appropriate care is just one of many strategies underway in Missouri to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and infants. Integrating this strategy into a coordinated system helps to ensure pregnant women and infants at high risk of complications receive care at a birth facility that is best prepared to meet their health needs. This coordination and triage enhance the ability of women to give birth safely in their communities while providing support for circumstances when higher level resources are needed.

“As soon as a woman becomes aware of her pregnancy, she should seek and receive prenatal care with her health provider right away. So many beneficial things can be done early in pregnancy to improve outcomes for mom and baby,” said Dr. Heidi Miller, chief medical officer for DHSS. “One of the most important interventions is determining if the pregnancy is high risk, so that the mother can be educated, empowered and connected with the appropriate intensity of care.”

This week, DHSS recognizes Black Maternal Health Week and encourages Missourians to support the pregnant people in their lives to reduce factors that contribute to pregnancy-related complications and death. Missouri’s latest pregnancy-associated mortality review report can be viewed at https://health.mo.gov/data/pamr/pdf/2019-annual-report.pdf.

Rate of STDs continues to rise nationally and in Missouri

May 2, 2023

Rate of STDs continues to rise nationally and in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates are at an all-time high according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nationally, there has been a 74% increase in syphilis over five years, as well as more than 2,800 congenital syphilis cases in 2021, with 220 resulting in stillbirths and infant deaths. This STI Awareness Week, the CDC released Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2021, which provides the most current and complete data for nationally notifiable sexually transmitted infections.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused disruptions nationally in STD-related prevention and care activities, numbers of STDs continued to rise. Missouri is experiencing the same rate increases, especially in syphilis and congenital syphilis (when a mother passes the infection on to her baby during pregnancy). In 2015, Missouri recorded two cases of congenital syphilis. In 2021, this number increased to 63.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) encourages the public to practice safe sex and routine testing for STDs as Missouri continues to see a significant increase in syphilis. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that, without treatment, can cause serious health problems. Syphilis is curable with the right antibiotics from a health care provider.

A person can get syphilis by direct contact with a syphilis sore during sexual activity. Each stage has different signs and symptoms. Syphilis can be treated and cured with antibiotics yet many cases go undiagnosed and untreated, leading to increased transmission and future negative health consequences.

Syphilis can also spread from a mother with syphilis to her unborn baby (congenital syphilis). Having syphilis during pregnancy can lead to a baby born with a low birth weight and can increase the chance that the mother will deliver her baby too early or stillborn. All pregnant women in Missouri should be screened for syphilis. Pregnant women should be tested at the first prenatal visit, in the third trimester (28 weeks), and at delivery regardless of perceived risk. No infant should leave the hospital without the mother’s serological status having been documented at least once during pregnancy and preferably again at delivery.

Condoms can lessen the spread of syphilis by preventing contact with a sore; however sometimes contact with any unprotected areas can be the cause of spread. The only way to completely avoid STDs is to abstain from any sexual activity.

DHSS continues to work with the St. Louis STI/HIV Prevention and Training Center to inform and educate health care providers about current evidence-based prevention, diagnosis and treatment recommendations. Additionally, DHSS has been working to increase the number of Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) who conduct contact tracing, investigations, and partner services for syphilis and HIV. The department is also continuing to expand its STD and HIV testing sites offering free testing. To find an STD and HIV testing site near you, go to Health.Mo.Gov/Testing.

Public education and outreach also continues, and a social and digital media kit for syphilis is available for partners to use to inform their local communities.

Forensic Center will use Telehealth to Reach Rural Patients

May 1, 2023

Forensic Center will use Telehealth to Reach Rural Patients

UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs, Colo., is opening a first-of-its-kind medical unit that will provide forensic nursing care to patients who have experienced sexual or physical assault and any other type of abuse. It also houses an expanded forensic telehealth program that will support rural hospitals and clinics across the region. Across the country, health care providers are utilizing telehealth programs as one strategy to combat staffing shortages, with others including non-monetary benefits such as flexible scheduling. Your chance to discuss rural-specific strategies to enhance telehealth capacity is at NRHA’s 46th Annual Rural Health Conference May 16-19 in San Diego.

CMS Issues FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS Proposed Rule

May 4, 2023

CMS Issues FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS Proposed Rule

On April 6, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update fiscal year (FY) 2024 Medicare payment policies and rates under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS).

The FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS proposed rule went on display at the Office of the Federal Register Public Inspection Desk and www.federalregister.gov on April 6, 2023, and was published today May 1, 2023. To view the published version of the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS proposed rule, go to the following web address and click on PDF under Printed Version: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/05/01/2023-07389/medicare-program-proposed-hospital-inpatient-prospective-payment-systems-for-acute-care-hospitals

Proposed changes to the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program and other quality reporting programs are included in the regulation. Details regarding proposals for various quality reporting programs can be found on the pages listed below:

  • Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) pp. 27024
  • Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program pp. 27024 – 27051
  • Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program pp. 27051 – 27055
  • Hospital IQR Program pp. 27078 – 27117
  • PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Program pp. 27117 – 27138
  • Promoting Interoperability Program pp. 27155 – 27173

CMS will accept comments on the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS proposed rule until June 9, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time and will respond to comments in the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule, to be issued by August 1, 2023. Comments can be submitted electronically or via regular mail or express/overnight mail. Please review the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS proposed rule for specific instructions for each method and submit using only one method.

For further assistance regarding the information, please contact the Inpatient Value, Incentives, and Quality Reporting (VIQR) Outreach and Education Support Team at https://cmsqualitysupport.servicenowservices.com/qnet_qa?id=ask_a_question or (844) 472-4477.

New Rural Health Voice Podcast on Advanced Nursing Degrees

May 1, 2023

New Rural Health Voice Podcast on Advanced Nursing Degrees

The latest Rural Health Voice podcast hosted by NRHA past president Beth O’Connor of the Virginia Rural Health Association discusses why rural Virginia needs advanced degrees in nursing with Laurie Anne Ferguson of Emory and Henry, which just launched a master’s in nursing program. “We do know that while some of us have traveled and lived all over, most people tend to stay or go back to where they grew up when they establish a career or start families,” Ferguson says. “By educating nurses in this region, we would be more strategic in being able to recruit … There is (also) a nurse faculty shortage, and one of the ways to solve that shortage is to grow our own.”

Podcast Here

New Journal of Rural Health (JRH) Articles on OUD Treatment, supporting CAHs, More

May 1, 2023

New Journal of Rural Health (JRH) Articles on OUD Treatment, supporting CAHs, More

The Journal of Rural Health, a quarterly journal published by the National Rural Health Association, serves as a medium for communication among health scientists and professionals in practice, educational, research, and policy settings.

JRH is a peer-reviewed international journal devoted to advancing professional practice, research, theory development, and public policy related to rural health.

Several new articles on the following topics were recently published online:

Access to full-text online articles is reserved for members. To access the journal, contact NRHA’s membership team with any questions about logging in.

How Midwives Can Help with Declining Rural OB Care

May 1, 2023

How Midwives Can Help with Declining Rural OB Care

Some midwives say home births could help more patients in the wake of rural hospital maternity ward closures that have left many families with no obstetric care options nearby. In recent years, several rural Northeast Ohio hospital systems have closed their maternal care centers, forcing patients to drive farther and leaving some with no maternity ward at all. Instead of taking on the burden of extra travel, some rural families are looking to midwives to help fill gaps in care. Let’s share rural-specific strategies to prevent rural maternal morbidity and mortality and address disparities and shortages at NRHA’s 46th Annual Rural Health Conference May 16-19 in San Diego.

Medicaid Changes Loom as COVID-era Regulations End

May 1, 2023

Medicaid Changes Loom as COVID-era Regulations End

Ending the COVID-19 PHE will require states to disenroll Medicaid recipients who were eligible for coverage as a result of COVID-era regulations. During a recent conference held by the Rural Health Association of Arkansas, an NRHA member, David Mantz of Dallas County Medical Center said hospitals won’t turn away patients who lose their Medicaid coverage, explaining that this would lead to more uncompensated care. It is estimated 15 to 30 percent of Arkansans will be disenrolled from Medicaid. NRHA hopes to help rural health stakeholders continue to communicate COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and safety with the Rural Vaccine Confidence Initiative toolkit.